Review of the book by The Honorable Richard P. Guy, Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court (Ret.)

Don Brockett's book well documents the historical debate over how the US Constitution should be interpreted. The book points out it was the Supreme Court that declared its superiority over constitutional interpretation.

Don addresses judicial excesses he finds when the Supreme Court Justices look beyond the Constitution’s plain words and interprets the Constitution as if it is today's document without respect to written intent. Appointment of Supreme Court Justices tend to follow political trends. In this presidential election year who is elected and makes Justice’s appointments will by those selections establish American legal, social and political answers for the next 15 years.

While I view the Constitution as a living document to be interpreted to respect human, technological and societal effects, the issues Don raises are worth respecting and knowing.

What is meant by “tyranny”? It was the tyranny of King George that provoked America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” that would serve to justify revolution.

When Americans consider their Supreme Court, tyranny is not a word that would occur to most, so that is the most intriguing part of the title of Donald C. Brockett’s book: The Tyrannical Rule of the U.S. Supreme Court. By the end of the book, it is clear that what the Court has done to our Constitution is nothing short of tyrannical.

A glimpse of Mr. Brockett’s career would not lead one to believe that he would be possessed with revolutionary fervor. His 33 years in the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, 25 of them as the elected head of the office, speaks to his commitment to the rule of law. That experience also provides him with a unique view of how our society suffers when its highest court is ultimately lawless.

The Tyrannical Rule of the Supreme Court lays out the case for the judicial tyranny of the U.S. Supreme Court in a unique way. The book relies heavily upon the opinions of Supreme Court Justices. That is dissenting Supreme Court Justices. (Read the entire review here…)